The Game Changer
by Spere
Summary: A new rule is implemented; only the winning team's members respawn after battle, and the losing team's members stay dead.


**So I wrote this in reference to my headcanon of what if only the winning team's members respawned, and the losing team's members stayed dead… Hope you guys enjoy, it's been awhile since I've written anything!**

* * *

It was a new feature to the respawn machine, described by the Administrator as a way to 'weed out the idiocy and incompetency between the two teams'. Really, it was simple; those who died would respawn, as long as they were part of the winning team. The losing team, however, well. New replacements would be shipped in during the ceasefire.

The announcement came abruptly, the mercenaries of both BLU and RED preparing for a battle that would, in the end, mean a few sores and hurt pride, whenever suddenly a sharp crackle and the sharp, bored tone of the Administrator blared into their respawn room. "Attention! Your performances as of late have all been horrible. So to motivate you mindless _apes_ to actually do your duties _properly_, a new rule will be in effect starting now. Mission begins in five minutes, gentlemen. Do _not _disappoint me."

The message was vague, confusing, and the mercenaries of the RED team shrugged it off, strapping on their gear and checking their weapons to make sure they were still functioning. It was just a normal battle to them, and though there was an air of wonder about the Administrator's sharp words, the only one who truly voiced their curiosity was Scout. The loudmouthed runner was quickly silenced by the combined efforts of Medic and Engineer, however, after a promise of revoked healing and dispensers.

"Mission begins 5, 4, 3, 2,..." a rustle of weapons as the Heavy revved up Sasha, Demoman tightened his grip on his Eyelander, and Medic announced his ubercharge.

"1!" the sirens went off as the pounding of feet exited the respawn, Scout darting ahead with ease and Heavy taking up the rear. It was only a payload match; not something too difficult, what with the Heavy's brute strength and Spy's inevitable backstabs on anyone who drew too close for comfort.

Bullets sprayed the ground, Scout's small form hopping around the dry, dusty ground of Badwater Basin. Scout cackled happily as he quickly fired his scatter gun in the face of the BLU Soldier, easily avoiding the rocket aimed at his feet with a quick jump back and he laughed loudly, relishing in the pained shout of the wounded Blu,"That's what I'm talking about!" Scout's shrill cackle quickly catching the attention of the rest of the team, and shooting the Soldier one last smug look, bolted off.

"Doctor! Charge me!"

"I'm runnin' circles around ya!"

"Sentry goin' up!"

"THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!"

"Stand still, ya bloody piker!"

Blood quickly began to mix with the dirt, and the calls for a Medic became more and more frequent as explosions and bullets bit into the dust and flesh. No one thought anything of the Administrator's rather vague words, simply assuming that it would be the losing team is denied supply shipments for a week or something of that sort.

The red vapors of the Medigun found their way to several members, and as the cart progressed and the Administrator announced the time in the match left. Medic crouched and shuffled behind the form of his Heavy and the bomb cart, smirking as he heard the screams from the BLUs that were easily being mowed down by his ubercharged Heavy. Poking his head over the cart, the German 'doctor' chuckled under his breath as he saw the BLU Scout quickly hop back away from their force, his right sock stained crimson from a well placed bullet.

Everything seemed to be going well, despite the lack of deaths from both teams, and the cart was quickly being pushed with the combined efforts of Soldier and Heavy, Medic carefully balancing his attention between the two of them as the trio shoved the cart farther and farther into enemy territory.

Perhaps it would have been a flawless victory if it weren't for the sudden appearance of the BLU Spy. Medic stared, stunned as he saw the small plume of smoke and flicker of BLU just behind the Heavy. The elephant of a man crumbled instantly with a pained cry as the butterfly knife was plunged into his back. "Ach! SPY! Heavy is dead!" Medic shouted, drawing his bone saw hastily. The BLU Spy simply smirked, cloaking quickly and dodging just as Medic lunged forward. Medic hastily left the cart, Soldier having pushed forward to assist the Demoman in tearing down the enemy Engineer's sentry nest. Pressing his back against the wall and his bone saw ready, Medic searched the terrain quickly for a teammate to heal. It wasn't that he was defenseless, no, he just didn't exactly want to be sent to respawn whenever they were so close to victory! The aftereffects of defying death wasn't exactly pleasant, and neither was the actual feeling of a knife being plunged into your spine just before everything goes black.

The signature mask of the RED Pyro popping up from in front of the bomb cart sent a wave of relief through Medic as his Pyro alerted him of their presence, and Medic prayed that the enemy Spy hadn't seen the figure of his savior yet. Slowly, Medic began to inch away from his spot, eyes moving around quickly for the slightest flicker of BLU as he moved away from his position on the wall to meet up with his comrade.

"Oh thank gott, Pyro... Heavy is dead! He was back stabbed; the Spy is still around... We need to move the cart up; there is only five minutes left!" Medic shouted as he approached, a grin of relief on his face as he aimed his Medigun at his team mate. The Pyro gave him a thumbs up, simply nodding as he let Medic slide behind the bomb cart to start pushing.

The RED Pyro moved behind Medic slowly, their hands gently holding their axe as they approached, and the BLU Spy's disguise flickered as he raised his knife to land the killing blow on yet another RED.

And then suddenly there was burning, the flames from the actual Pyro's backburner quickly igniting his suit. The BLU Spy screamed in pain as he felt the agonizing fire claw and melt his skin, and soon enough he was nothing but charred remains. Medic's head whipped around the second he heard the ignition of the flamethrower. Eyes wide, the healer stared at the blackened pile of the Spy, and he shot a grateful grin at the true Pyro. The two REDs quickly went to work on shoving the cart to the last point; the BLU's base, and with the enemy Spy down (hopefully), they at least wouldn't have to worry about backstabs.

Judging by the fragments of a sentry, Medic supposed that the Demoman and Soldier had succeeded in their task of absolutely wrecking the sentry nest that had been waiting at the point. He kicked a spare, ravaged limb out of their path as they drew closer to the final destination.

The rest of the battle ended quickly and abruptly, the BLUs weakened with their main defense being blown to shreds, and after a quick pit stop at Medic, Soldier and Demoman were able to stall the Heavy and Medic duo from coming to the defense of their poor base. With one final shove, Medic grabbed the Pyro quickly, sprinting away from the inevitable explosion.

Intense heat scorched the back of Medic's neck as his ears began to ring from the explosion of the bomb. "VICTORY!" the Administrator announced, a tone of disdain in her voice, and there was a cheer from the RED team as they headed back to their own base, kicking the still smoking rubble from the destroyed BLU base. Soldier was happily leading the way, the American already belting out how each and every one of them deserved a medal... Not one of his, but just a medal of some sort.

Except as they made their way back, Medic couldn't help but notice that Heavy was still no where in sight... And judging by Soldier's momentary pause in his speech, he wasn't the only one. "Say, where's the commie?" Heads turned as they realized that the large presence of the Heavy was indeed missing. As they stepped into the respawn room, however, there was the soft whirring sound of the respawn as the Heavy suddenly appeared with a soft clicking sound.

A trashcan sized hand covered Heavy's eyes as he blocked out the bright lights of the respawn, a queasy feeling in his stomach and the feeling of vertigo making him sway slightly... He had been in respawn for much longer than normal, and he felt someone lead him to the benches that lined the walls, a soft creak sounding as his weight was dropped onto the middle of the seat.

"You okay there, partner?" Engineer asked, his hands moving away from his teammate's tree trunk-like bicep. Heavy grunted in response as he tried to wipe the stars out of his eyes, and really just keep down his breakfast.

The sound of the intercom coming on interrupted the wonder of Heavy's rather late appearance. Despite being battle-worn and weary, the exhilaration from a victory kept the team on their feet and in rather high spirits (well, minus the Heavy). "As you all have hopefully noticed, one of your team mates did not join you in the battle once they died. Tomorrow, your opponents will be short two members of their team, as you will see. From now on, only the winning team's members will respawn after being killed in battle; if you are to lose, your replacement team members will arrive during the next ceasefire. Do not fail me. Replacing you oafs is harder than it sounds."

Her voice cut off abruptly with another burst of static. The silence in the room was deafening as the weight of the new rule dropped onto the shoulders of each of the mercenaries. "Holy shit, is she serious?" Scout's loud mouth was the first one to break the silence.

"Hold on, can they even do that? We have a bloody contract, don't we?" Sniper asked, and though he knew when they first signed on that they were going to be killing for a living, the respawn was a rather pleasant surprise... Although mainly in his favor... But over time, he realized that, even as a lone wolf, he had come to appreciate and even depend on the eight other men... err, well, seven other, and then Pyro.

Several disgruntled mumbles and protest bounced around the group, their temporary high of winning squashed at the news of actual _death_. Finally, a rather loud cough silenced them as Spy put in his two cents. "Gentlemen," he addressed them, pleased to see they were at least looking at him," If you had read our contracts, we are required to kill. With this new rule, nothing will have changed in our contract, because we were never notified about respawn until we experienced it ourselves. This new... _rule _is going to happen no matter what, so I suggest you all be prepared. The BLUs are at a disadvantage. We can win this, gentlemen, as long as we do not make and foolish mistakes," Spy's eyes lingered over Scout as he looked over his teammates. Spy snubbed his cigarette, cloaking and exiting the unnervingly quiet room.

The next battle held an air of tension, the announcement no doubt being made to both teams. Soldier's strategy actually gaining attention before battle as suddenly the stakes seemed much higher, assuming that the Administrator wasn't lying, and though her words had double meanings sometimes, she rarely lied to the team. Well, at least not that they knew of.

True to her word, the BLU Spy and Engineer were missing, making it a little easier for the RED team to defend their base... But the BLUs were also much more aggressive, and bullets rained down on the RED team, the attacks unrelenting.

Calls for a Medic rung throughout the battlefield, and soon both team's healers found themselves out of breath as they hurried from one injured teammate to the next, their determination to keep their team alive at a new level.

The RED team was able to hold for the next two battles, though there were no more deaths from either team, both sides acting defensive since the new announcement.

Soldier was the first to go. It was the third battle where things went wrong.

RED team was attacking this battle, and even though the BLU team had a weakened defense with the Engineer being down, their offense was aggressive enough to make up for the two lost members.

The REDs had been pushing their cart through a tunnel, Sniper keeping careful watch from his perch, and Spy and Scout giving the clear as they scanned the perimeters. The RED team had not been expecting a sneak attack.

A battle cry was what surprised the red clad mercenaries, the BLU Soldier, Heavy, Medic, Pyro, and Scout charging from behind them. Rockets instantly exploded at the team's feet as shrapnel dug into the RED Soldier's legs, him having been defending the rear.

The blue glow of an enemy ubercharge reflecting off the bomb as suddenly the team was bombarded by the laughing roar of the enemy Heavy, bullets firing wildly as RED scrambled to gain their bearings, thankfully the RED Medic also having an ubercharge ready. The RED Heavy soon found himself also invincible, and he quickly aimed at the easiest target, the Scout. His gun tore through the runner like paper, and he felt a burst of optimism to see the hesitance in the BLU team's eyes, but then Medic's voice quickly chops through the hope.

"We have to pull back, Scout, Soldier, and Demoman are injured! We can push the cart later, pull back!" Medic shouted. The sound of boots scuffling against the ground to get out of the way became apparent, and Heavy began to retreat, feeling the intoxicating effects of the ubercharge start to run out...

Thankfully this meant that BLU Heavy's ubercharge was also gone, and quickly the duo was assaulted with bullets just before they ducked for cover.

The hasty retreat was sloppy at best, Medic hurrying away to heal his teammates, unfortunately leaving his back unprotected as Heavy did his best to ignore the bullets tearing into him to send the retreating BLUs off with a few good wounds to keep them from coming back to finish the job.

It was Soldier who noticed the blue light slide to the back of Medic's head.

The sound of a gunshot cracked through the panicked scrambling as Soldier fell limp just behind Medic, a bullet piercing his helmet.

The battle was lost that round with a big piece of their offense down, the team's spirits dampened drastically as they managed to drag themselves back to respawn. There was no whirr of the machine, and there was no Soldier popping up to yell at them for their incompetence. Medic was silent for the night, locking himself in his infirmary and refusing to let anyone in.

Scout refused to believe Soldier was truly dead, and it was only after a good confrontation from the Engineer that the youngest member stilled from his insistent searching for the 'ecccentric uncle' he had come to admire, despite the kookiness of his personality. The silence that spread throughout the base was stifling.

The words of the Administrator sunk in deeply after what she said proved true, and suddenly each battle became even more intense for the REDs as they struggled to hold their position. They still had one more team mate than BLU, but it was unnerving to lose the loud, commanding voice of the Soldier, Scout's own taunts being more vicious than normal at the BLUs as he attacked them rather wrecklessly. Medic scolded him harshly as he managed to save a fatally injured Scout last minute with an ubercharge.

Sniper was next, the enemy Pyro having managed to slip through their lines of defense and easily burn down the Australian.

Then it was Demoman, the Scot meeting the wrong end of an ubercharged Heavy while protecting the final point.

Battles passed quickly, rapidly, and RED managed to pick off a few more BLUs, including the Scout and Pyro, leaving the BLU team at a disadvantage for Spy checking.

It was the Pyro who was slightly confused as to why their base was emptying so suddenly. Yes, they had heard the announcement, but surely the Administrator was simply pulling their leg! Their team was just shipped off temporarily; they'd be back... right? The Pyro's confidence began to dip slowly as their base became more and more vacant, each battle growing more and more desperate.

Engineer was the one who had to deal with Pyro's confusion. The Texan was clever, and he knew that telling Pyro their teammates were flat out dead would result in the entire base being burned down. Even if Pyro was a mercenary; a cold blooded killer, there was that obvious innocence to them, and it was a relief to see at least one member still positive despite the losses, though that was only because they were unaware of them... Although part of Pyro's ignorance was for their own benefit; they wanted to believe what Engineer said was true. After all, the man was a genius! And surely his team couldn't really be gone.

The Heavy was lost next due to the BLU Sniper, leaving Medic to depend on Pyro for offense.

After battles, Medic and Engineer would spend nights locked in a lab, pouring over theories, blueprints, maps, notes, _anything_ to maybe force the respawn to work, or create some sort of alternate weapon that could heal faster, quicker.

The stress around the base was high, and though there was a stiff air of attempted cheerfulness, not even Scout could lighten the mood with his snide remarks.

Medic was the next to die. The BLU Soldier had managed to blast him away from the Pyro, sending the healer smashing backwards into the dust as Soldier grinned maliciously," Come here, Sweetheart..." he chuckled darkly as he reloaded. The team found the shreds of Medic's coat after the battle had ended. Engineer was silent as he picked up the severed arm of his teammate.

The determination to win the battle was strong, but with only one offense left to push the cart and so few team mates left, RED pulled back quickly, unwilling to lose anymore teammates. Engineer ate alone that night, unlike his usual dinner with Medic and occasional smile or two. The Texan mercenary could only pray that Spy had not watched him shred the useless papers that had piled up. He could only hope Spy had not seen him as he rubbed the tears out of his eyes as the situation became more and more helpless as their numbers dwindled... And with their healer gone, he knew he had to keep his dispenser up at all times. Engineer slept alone on the floor of the lab that night.

The next battle was lost swiftly, then, the RED team only managing to pick off the enemy Demo thanks to Spy's quick knife, unfortunately the BLU Sniper's post being very well protected. With RED's healer down, Scout was quick to bite the dust, and RED was pushed to the edges of their base. Spy swore profusely when he saw the enemy Demoman alive and laughing outside of the BLU base, waving a bottle of scrumpy at them.

The disappearance of team members was getting harder and harder to ignore, and though Spy was able to clean off the Demoman (for good this time), they were still outmatched. Pyro's question of their team's whereabouts came more often as they noticed the emptiness of the dinner table.

It was whenever Engineer heard a sniffling from the Pyro's mask as Engineer once again claimed their team went on a temporary leave, that he went to talk to Spy. It was a pathetic request, if Engineer thought about it... To ask Spy to disguise as one of their teammates to attempt to cheer up the Pyro... But it was a small chuckle of amusement at the absurdity of the request that prompted Spy to fulfill it. So with the disguise of the Scout, Spy was once again filling the base with the fast talking, loud Scout as he approached the Pyro, offering to watch a bit of television with their rather bizarre teammate and forcing himself to crack a few snide bur terrible remarks that Scout no doubt would say.

Engineer found himself actually enjoying that night.

There was a heaviness in the air the next morning. True, it was the last battle until the stalemate, but with just the Engineer, Pyro, and Spy left (Scout taking a leave later that night claiming he had to go home before his ma got upset), their hopes were slim... but they were just defending, so hopefully it would be alright. Pyro could Spy check, Spy could get rid of hopefully any stragglers, and Engineer's sentry could fix the rest.

The BLU Soldier and Medic discovered Spy on accident. It was after Spy found himself pressed against a wall trying not to brush against the Soldier or Medic that suddenly the American growled," I smell something..." And without even thinking, Soldier whipped around and blasted a rocket into the corners of the small shack, and finally straight into Spy.

His death was quick, and Soldier laughed as he kicked the remains of the Spy into a pile. With even more optimism, the offensive class charged forward with a battle cry, the Medic's laughter quickly following as he activated his ubercharge.

"You've failed!"

Pyro's feet skid to a stop as they ducked behind a rather large boulder. They had been quickly pushed out of their position by the ubercharged BLU Soldier, and after managing to reflect a rocket or two, Pyro quickly dashed out to attempt to airblast the BLU Medic away from the Soldier, Engineer's sentry beeping. The Texan himself had gone off to handle the Sniper. After seeing that lingering around the duo would only prove fatal for them, Pyro had hurried off, feeling slightly bad as they heard the explosion of Engineer's sentry, the rockets and bullets useless against the invincible Soldier.

Pyro was breathing heavily as they pulled at the collar to their flame retardant suit. Quickly running back to base, the Pyro dropped their flamethrower into the respawn lockers before moving to look for his remaining teammates... Or maybe even the rest, since Engineer had said they were just on a temporary leave; surely they'd be back by now!

The last offensive class was cheered by this thought, and practically skipping into the base, they were slightly puzzled to see literally no one there. The Pyro paused, blinking as they wondered where everyone was; normally Engineer would be in the supply room with a dispenser already up, or somewhere in the living room with a blue sheet of paper with a rather boxy, boring drawing of something or other.

The masked class quickly checked the rooms of each mercenary, Soldier's having collected a bit of dust since he'd been gone. Each room being of course empty, and Pyro couldn't help but frown as they searched the base for someone, anyone... Just where was his team...?

It was nearly dark outside whenever Pyro decided to venture outside. As they stepped outside, they squeaked as something bumped against their toe. Pyro paused as they slowly looked down, and carefully, they bent to pick it up.

The bright yellow construction helmet had a dry smudge of dirt, and after turning it slowly, Pyro's breath caught in their throat as they saw the jagged crack and bullet hole located in the back. Dried blood crusted in inside of the helmet, and Pyro was trembling slightly.

A flicker of light caught the Pyro's attention, and looking up finally, Pyro saw the BLU team sitting outside of their base, the laughter raucous as the remaining team members celebrated their victory around a campfire.

Pyro was trembling as they held the Engineer's helmet close, slowly retreating into the base as they realized the cold truth, the veil Engineer had attempted to cast over them being shredded.

The RED base was silent that night.

* * *

**Hope you guys liked it~ Reviews are appreciated!**


End file.
